Mr. Pat Hynes:

It was expected that, given that we had the Stormont House architecture in place, we would have a consultation to see how it could be operationalised. We are still waiting for that consultation process to kick in. It would have provided quite a useful basis for organisations like ours to sit down with some firm proposals and ideas and where there could be much more meaningful dialogue, rather than kicking a ball around an open field. We are hoping that will occur in the not too distant future. Notwithstanding Senator Craughwell's concerns about the future of the agreement, we have to draw breath and pause. The agreement, in its three-stranded approach, was designed and envisaged to repair the broken relationships which gave rise to the conflict across the island - the conflict within Northern Ireland, the conflict between North and South - and the conflict between the two islands was to be repaired in the context of that agreement so that we could work together.

We do not have anything else and, ultimately, we have to continue to deepen the reconciliation and to work towards repairing those relationships. In that context, as highlighted today, we need to look back and address in the most sensitive and best way possible the concerns of the individuals who have been affected, as the committee has heard in the testimony before it.

I was asked what can be done and Mr. Francie Molloy touched on this as well. We regularly get asked what kind of answers people can hope to receive in these dialogues and discussions and we say the quality of the engagement will reflect the depth of the relationship formed. Fundamentally, this comes down to people's willingness to be sensitive and honest and to acknowledge the harm-----